The concept of Sustainable Development was presented for the first time in 1987 by the World Commission on Environment and Development, in the report Our Common Future . The commission was created by the United Nations, and was made of 21 nations, including Canada.

The commission, headed by Norwegian Prime Minister Gro Harlem Brundtland, said that the planet needs " a new era of environmentally sustainable sound economic development." Dr. Brundtland also said that "government must strongly support a new political approach to environment and development, where economic and fiscal policies, trade and foreign policies, energy, agriculture, industry, and other sectorial policies, all aim to induce development that is not only economically but ecologically sustainable."

Beginning in 1987, the author of the present paper has researched and developed the complete definition of Sustainable Development as well as creating a method of measurement. The technical definition of Sustainable Development was given as being :

"a sound balance among the interactions of the impacts (positive and/or negative), or stresses, on the four major quality systems: People, Economic Development, Environment and Availability of Resources."

The non-technical definition was given as being:

"a sound balance among the interactions designed to create a healthy economic growth, preserve environmental quality, make wise use of our resources, and enhance social benefits."

Developing a scale of values and designing and testing quality indicators is the most important task. The Gross Environmental Sustainable Development Index (GESDI) is quantitatively describing quality indicators rather than merely measuring different variables. GESDI includes all possible aspects, all physical, biological, health, social and cultural components which routinely influences the lives of individuals and communities.

If we are to achieve effective evaluation of quality, comprehensive data are needed about the status and changes of the variables. Optimally, these data may be organized in terms of indices that in some fashion aggregate relevant data. These indices are in turn used to predict the impact of public and private actions, assess conditions and trends, and determine the effectiveness of programs in all areas.

For instance, reliable data are needed to evaluate the effects of human activities on the environment and to determine what possible actions that can be done to ameliorate the adverse effects. The quality of urban environment constitutes a major test of the level of the well-being of a nation as a society. Essential elements of an adequate urban environment include the following parts: * Health care system, * Educational system, * Seniors'care, * Food chain, nutrition, * Population growth, * Farming communities, * Parks, * Psychological, biological, genetics and evolution, * Spiritual pathways, * Entertainment, * Quality of life, customs and beliefs, information access, communication, aesthetics * Decent housing, suitable community services, * Pollution, waste, * An atmosphere of social justice, * Family stability, * Religion, * Infrastructures and facilities, land planning, * Juvenile crimes, gangs, drugs, illiteracy, * Socio-cultural and political influences, multi-culturalism, laws, * Anthropological, Aboriginals, Natives issues.

Knowing what are the important elements of sustainable development allows us to structure indicators into major areas such as demographic data; the economic data of the individual, family, and household; the status of the region's economy; housing, community facilities, and aesthetic quality; social quality. Here also the weights given to the different segments of the evaluation were obtained or guess-estimated from the results of the Survey on the Scale of Values.

GESDI can be determined by defining an impact or stress equation which itself separates ecological balance and pollution into basic sustainable development impacts. An impact or stress I is created by the interactions between four major quality systems: People, Economic
Developmen, Environment and Availability of Resources.

The function I is a product of four index scales of assessments: U, G, P and C. Each product indicates the relative importance of a given impact, or stress, with respect to the four major quality systems.

Ii = Ii,E + Ii,AR + Ii,PA + Ii,ED

where Ii,E = Ui Gi Pi ( W C )i,E

Ii,PA = Ui Gi Pi ( W C )i,PA

Ii,AR = Ui Gi Pi ( W C )i,AR

Ii,ED = Ui Gi Pi ( W C )i,ED

and where E, PA, AR and ED represent the components of the four major quality systems.

The components of the Economic Development system, ED, relate to progress whether it is economically at home, in our community, or in the ways of doings things. New ways of doing things pervade this system. The ideal is to find safe ways of doing things. More and more new consumer products and building materials are brought into the market every year. With less and less government it is getting harder to control all what is brought on the market and therefore more of the non-safe types of products will appear. How do we protect a population from such products? Competitive forces will not necessarily be helping improving the environment and our health.

The components of the People or Social system, PA, relate to human activities and their actions, interactions and reactions. The social and economic well-being of the people and their health are pivotal points for this system.

The components of the Environment system, E, refer to the media through which impacts are transmitted. Each component interacts with other components in the system as well as with components in all other systems.

If only the impacts, or stresses related to the Environment are considered then Ii is called the Environmental Quality Equation and the results obtained here are an Environmental Sustainable Developmen.If only the impacts, or stresses related to the Economic Development are considered then the results obtained here are a Sustainable Economic Development. If only the impacts, or stresses related to People are considered then the results obtained are a Sustainable Community Development and a Sustainable Home Developmen. In each case, impacts or stresses must be made to interact with all four major quality systems.

The Urgency index, U, expresses the importance of the need to find a solution to the stress within a reasonable period of time or else the impact will cause significant damages to components of the four major quality systems.

The Geographical Extent index, G, expresses the significant detectable geographical extent of the stress or impact, and includes all major media and modes of transportation and communications.

The Persistence index, P, expresses the period of time during which the effects of the stress or impact will still be felt at a significant level.

The Number of Interactions index, C, describes the relative complexity of the stress or impact while interacting with each of the four major quality systems. An interaction is counted whether it was documented, or is likely or expected to occur. The weight, W, expresses the probability or a judgment value of an interaction and its degree of importance. Results of the Survey on the Scale of Values
were used to guess-estimate the weights for the impacts.

The four interacting circles are quality systems. They are used because together they form a neat
geometric expression about a complicated intellectual concept. They represent interactions.
These interactions occur between the systems and within each individual system.

Here same-size circles represent mathematical local/global indicators that have been developed for assessing and measuring sustainable development within four equally-important realities in local/global life. The scale (to be presented during the World Congress) used within the mathematical model reflects the importance of each quality system in ensuring a sound future for Earth.

People need a healthy environment and resources for industry. Businesses cannot thrive without people or resources. Economic stability depends on people, resources, and good businesses. And all of the above cannot exist without environment.

The four interacting circles are a simplistic expression of our need for one another, our
interaction, the thoughtless damage we can cause. We are worlds within worlds orbiting in and through each other’s space. This interaction can be planned and executed in a caring, considerate manner so that all may exist and not destroy the other.

The urgency index, U, described in the mathematical model, is one of the four indices of the equation for the evaluation of impacts. It is the index or variable that reflects the level of responsibility we are willing to take to solve the problem, impact or concern. It reflects the importance of the need to find a solution to the stress within a reasonable period of time or else the impact will cause significant damages and will be felt by the next generations to come.

The scale is as follows. The minimum value is 1 and is equivalent to saying that the impact is not important and may be resolved within a century. The maximum value is 10 and is equivalent to saying that the impact is very important, no waiting allowed, so as to ensure a sound future for Earth.

The values between 1 and 10 were defined here.

For instance, the impact of pollutants on a groundwater system. Someone in the community would have enough knowledge and experience to say whether it is equivalent to the minimum value of 1 which in turn is equivalent to saying that the impact is not important, what causes the impact may be let go, or that it may be resolved within a century.

Or the impact is equivalent to the maximum value of 10 which in turn is equivalent to saying that the impact is very important, no waiting allowed, so as to ensure a sound future for Earth. A personal judgement is made as to what the answer may be between 1 and 10. If noone in the community can answer the question than an environmental assessment would be appropriate in this case. Sometimes a rough estimate from someone with experience is all that is needed.

We want to find the impact of people activity on the environment, the availability of resources, economic development and onto themselves.

· Insuring a Sound Future for Earth
· Measuring and Managing Sustainable Development

128· Serving the scientific community as a forum for the presentation and discussion of important issues related to sustainable development
129· Generating a Global Community dialogue about and for peace and sound solutions to that effect
130· Providing a Global Online Community for the general public and the opportunity for involvement and feedback into projects and programs
131· Providing the Global Community with sound solutions related to home and community sustainable development, environmental designs and sustainable buildings
132· Committed to the sustainable end of world hunger by finding sound solutions to development
133· Promoting the global adoption of energy-efficiency in order to enable a sustainable economic development and an ecological sustainable development
134· Performing Global review of projects, examine alternatives, and formulates guidelines and criteria for future local and global development
135· Establishing a permanent global dialogue on measuring and managing sustainable development
136· Establishing a permanent global dialogue on finding sound solutions to sustainable development
137· Establishing a permanent global dialogue to ensure a sound future for Earth
138· Mechanisms for citizen participation to finding sound solutions
139· Coordinating the assessment of local and global indicators along with other national and international organizations
140· Establishing accounting and valuation on sustainable development; making results available to governments, research institutions, NGOs from all countries
141. Establishing the Global Community network that will conduct annual assessments of sustainable development indicators and making results available on the Internet142· Providing gross global indicators to the global community:

1. Gross Environmental Sustainable Development Index
(GESDI); and

2. Gross Sustainable Development Product (GSDP).

142· Developing projects and programs to promote the Global Community concept in school and for the general Public
143· Establishing a warning system on environmental hazards and emergencies to prevent disasters from happening
144· Helping countries to prevent and peacefully settle environmental disputes by initiating a process for dialogue and finding solutions
145· Proposing a local and global Code of criminal law governing transnational offenses
146. Proposing minimum standards of punishment for transboundary criminal behavior
147· Proposing joint legal instruments and policies to facilitate management of transboundary natural resources and border ecosystems, and to regulate the use of renewable natural resources
148· Proposing integrated accounts systems, business and industry accounts, economic policies, policy instruments, and private actions
149· Proposing policies and management practices to national and international organizations for the integration of environment and development at various stages of the decision-making process
150· Proposing joint projects between countries for resource management and control
151· Proposing to international institutions (World Bank, IMF, etc.) measurements of sustainable development be included in their statistics on socioeconomic, trade and financial performance
152· Proposing regulatory instruments on sustainable development
153. Lifestyles
154. Habits
155. Political influences

The scoring method for performance is a simple method designed to assess performance in the area of sustainable development. There is a point awarded to each response to a question. The answer to each question produces a score. The scale of the scoring system is shown here.

Answer

Score

Absolutely not

0

Not often

1

Sometimes

2

Habitually

3

Most of the times

4

Definitely yes

5

If a question is not applying to the site, it must be left out and the total number of questions is reduced by one. All points are then added to obtain a percentage in each sub-section therefore assessing performance in all areas. The rating for each sub-section is calculated using the following equation:

Sub-section % =
Total number of points for the subsection x 100%
Total number of questions for the sub-section
5

The sub-section rating obtained is entered at the end of each sub-section. By adding the percentage together and dividing by the number of sub-sections will yield the "Section Rating", which is the average percentage performance in this area of sustainable development.

We have assigned weights to each Section Rating value as part of the accounting method. These weights were obtained from the Survey on the Scale of Values and are of the same kind as the Urgency or Importance Index value. We guess-estimated in between the values from the Survey.

Thus the section rating can be obtained.
Section Rating = Sub-section rating total x I(normanized)
Total number of sub-sections

= GESDI for this section.

All percentages were then added to obtain an overall rating for the site.
The GESDI for the home and the community is obtained by adding all GESDI of all the sections together.

The total number of components of the four major quality systems are added here:

People or Social (155) + Environment (57) +

Availability of Resources (21) + Economic Development (74)

= 307

Although some impacts maybe assessed using similar components within the four major quality systems unless it can be shown otherwise, impacts should be counted only once. For instance, within the environment system, component 32 is "water pollution". If the pollution is found in the Arctic (component 1), then water pollution may be used only once using either component 1 or component 32.

As an example, the upper benchmark is easily obtained by considering the impacts of a global nuclear war: U = 10, G = 10, P = 10, C = 57 + 155 + 21 + 74 = 307 (W = 1), and I = UGPC = 307,000. Thus the overall importance of the impact of a global nuclear war is equal to 307,000. All values of I are normalized by dividing by 307,000 (the upper benchmark is now equal to 1 ).

At the other end of the scale we might have to measure the importance of the impact of community noise on the four major quality system. Noise pollution has already well-established standard values and we would use them to reinforce values obtained from the survey or guess-estimated values. Noise pollution in a residential community is much more important than noise pollution out in the desert somewhere where it does not affect people. In this case we have to evaluate GESDI in its context or site. We will show how it can be done in the next part of this report where we evaluate GESDI for a home and a community.

Noise pollution in a community could have the following assessment categories:

U = 9, G = 1, P = 1

(WC)i,E = 0.9 as air is being polluted with noise and it is the only interaction in this system and W = 0.9

The value of 66.6 is the impact of noise pollution at this particular site. GESDI cannot be evaluated at this time. We have to evaluate the entire community or site and again this will be shown in the next chapter of this report. Note that noise pollution standards were very useful here and, sometimes, there maybe a need for a standard measurement of the noise and comparing results with government regulations. Results would certainly improve the assessment we are conducting. Unless it can be shown that already recognized standards are deficient, they are always used first and given priority over guess-estimates.

A priority list has been worked out for the province of Alberta in Canada. The list is used to define the quality scale whose values are in turn used as weights to measure GESDI. The measurement includes all environmental, social, resources and economic development stresses and/or impacts, all made to interact with the four major quality systems and within themselves. The method is flexible enough to measure all types of indicators and indices.

The following table is an example of the work already accomplished. The table shows the assessment category U, the Urgency or importance of the impact and its weight W = U/10 used to obtain the interaction (WC). The column Usurvey will eventually contain the value of U obtained from the results of theSurvey on the Scale of Values. The column Uestimated is the guess estimated value for those who understand and are aware of impacts and their cumulative effects over time. People in the community will want to get together and discuss and find the best solution. Every responsible individual has a right to be part of the discussion and the solution. A personal judgement is made as to what the answer may be between 1 and 10. If noone in the community can answer the question than an environmental assessment would be appropriate in this case. Sometimes a rough estimate from someone with experience in the field is all that is needed.

Government regulations have very important standards which must be used first. Very often a city would have even more stringent standards and they would be given priorities.

Usurvey

Uestimated

Ustandard

U/10

Nuclear war(upper benchmark)

10

1.0

Solid waste

10

1.0

Carbon dioxide

5

0.5

Ozone layer pollutants

10

1.0

Wastes from industry

6

0.6

Oil spills

7

0.7

Sulphur dioxide

5

0.5

Pesticides

4

0.4

Radioactive wastes

10

1.0

Carbon monoxide

3

0.3

Community noise

9

0.9

Litter

3

0.3

Heavy metals

5

0.5

Organic sewage

4

0.4

Wasteful use of energy

10

1.0

The following priority list has been worked out for common use. Values were obtained for each interaction and, after studying the large volume of data available on every aspect, it was possible to resolve the impact equation for each case. The following table shows the results.

Note that these results are specific to Alberta. Results would be different at any other site.

The natural stock of forest yields the end-use or consumption of cut timber. A sustained yield of timber must be reached to satisfy the principles of sustainable development. To maintain the productive capacity of the stock and sustain the income or benefits, people are asked to replenish the stock once used. Consumption levels of the stock must be maintained without depleting the quality and quantity of services the stock brings in creating wealth. Sufficient investments must be made to replenish timber stocks. For instance, an investment in reforestation is necessary.

Timber resources have monetary values which are derived from the conversion of timber into marketable forest products. The economic value and monetary account of the forest as a resource is determined as follows:

(opening and net closing balance of the physical stock measurement of timber) x ((average price - costs + business profit and risk) for all forest products and production per cubic meter of timber, or per unit of forest land area)

This way the net balance of timber or the value of the net effect of both growth and depletion is accounted for, and is used in the Gross Sustainable Development Product (GSDP) accounts either as a depreciated or appreciated value.

Depletion or depreciation might be due to fire, harvesting, insect and disease damage, and land use changes. Appreciation might be due to reforestation, land use changes, growth, and productive gains.

The physical stock, end-use and consumption accounts show the net balance of timber volumes and productive forest land area. The end-use and consumption accounts show both

appreciation depreciation or depletion

Ir oder to evaluate a Sustainable Forestry Development, the market value for the resource of timber must be evaluated as well as the impact on nonmarket values of the other forest resources. All forest quality indicators mus be taken into account:

(WC)i,AR = 0.2 (diminishing the stock of forest has cost $15 million) + 1.0 (a recreational area was destroyed at a cost of $1 million) + 0.6 (residential and commercial properties were destroyed at a cost of $15 million) + 1.0 (tourism industry is affected at a cost of $2 million) = 2.8

The results show that the forest fire has a significant impact on sustainable development, and therefore on GESDI in the province of Alberta, especially in the community where it has occurred. The GSDP calculated has decreased by $62 million.

An other indicator was developed to measure the costs of development: the Gross Sustainable Development Product (GSDP).

The GSDP is defined as the total value of production within a region over a specified period of time. It is measured using market prices for goods and services transactions in the economy. The GSDP is designed to replace the Gross Development Product (GDP) as the primary indicator of the economic performance of a nation.

The GSDP takes into accounts:

· the economic impacts of environmental and health degradation or improvement, resource depletion or findings of new stocks, and depreciation or appreciation of stocks;· the impact of people activity on the environment, the availability of resources, and economic development;· the "quality" of the four major quality systems and the impacts of changes in these systems on national income and wealth;· global concerns and their impacts on the economy;· the welfare, economic development and quality of life of future generations;· expenditures on pollution abatement and clean-ups, people health, floods, vehicle accidents, and on any negative impact costs;· the status of each resource and the stocks and productive capacities of exploited populations and ecosystems, and make sure that those capacities are sustained and replenished after use; and· the depreciation or appreciation of natural assets, the depletion and degradation of natural resources and the environment, ecological processes and biological diversity, the costs of rectifying unmitigated environmental damage, the values of natural resources, capital stocks, the
impacts of degradation or improvement, social costs, health costs, environmental clean-up costs, and the costs of the environment, economic growth, and resources uses to current and future generations and to a nation’s income.

The measurement of GSDP shows that consumption levels can be maintained without depleting and depreciating the quality and quantity of services. It indicates the solutions to the problems as well as the directions to take, such as:

The measurement of GSDP also gives a proper and sound signal to the public, government and industry about the rate and direction of economic growth; it identifies environmental, health, and social quality; it identifies sustainable and unsustainable levels of resource and environmental uses; it measures the success or failure of sustainable development policies and practices; and it identifies resource scarcity. Values obtained enable us to make meaningful comparisons of
sustainable development between cities, provinces, nations over the entire planet.

A status report of all physical accounts show the physical state and availability of resources and the state of the environment. Examples of the physical stock accounts are:

GESDI can be obtained for these quality indicators that are difficult to give a money value to. Both the GESDI and GSDP are measured together and tell us about the quality and cost of development, locally and globally.

Measurements of GESDI and GSDP provide insights for the discussion of issues such as :

· Is the actual rate of development too slow or too fast?· Are People aspects being stressed too far?· Are resources and the environment managed in a sustainable manner?· What forms of community and home designs promote sustainability? · In what ways should social, educational, and health programs and services be modified?· Is this generation leaving to the future generation a world that is at least as diverse and productive as the one it inherited?· What improvements can be brought up to the quality of development?